


while our flames still burn

by templefugate



Series: Sam Wilson Appreciation Fics [4]
Category: Avengers (Comics), Captain America (Comics), Marvel (Comics), Thor (Comics)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Cancer, Canon Het Relationship, Captain America Sam Wilson, Drabble, F/M, Female Thor, Graphic Depictions of Illness, Hospitals, Jane Foster Thor, Mortality, One Shot, POV Character of Color, Terminal Illnesses
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-08
Updated: 2017-01-08
Packaged: 2018-09-15 20:37:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,304
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9256022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/templefugate/pseuds/templefugate
Summary: With her, Sam Wilson doesn't have to be a man hunted by Hydra or picked apart by the media. Captain America can pull off the mask, set down the shield, and just be himself - which is exactly who Jane needs him to be.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Reading ANAD Avengers made me ship this despite thinking I wouldn't.
> 
> TW: Cancer, discussions of mortality

"I hope you're not too busy for me." Sam sat down, his legs apart. In one hand he cradled a tightly wrapped box (blue wrapping with red and white ribbons - were there any colors better?) and in the other a hot mocha.

Jane looked up from her book. "Oh, Sam, I didn't know you were coming today." She dog-marked a page and firmly closed it. Sam caught a glance of the title on the spine - _Theoretical Vs. Applied Physics: Uses and Techniques_.

Sam took a long sip of his drink. "Well," he spoke, shrugging, "I forgot to text again. You know how things get in the way."

"Well, it's a nice surprise," she replied. A small smile, so rare to see these days when she was off duty, slowly spread across her face.

It wasn't exactly a packed house. Other than a handful of nurses and two other patients, the room was empty. Unseen machinery beeped around the room, the only other noise besides the steady whirring of the air conditioner.

Jane raised a thin eyebrow. "Is it your birthday?"

"Huh?" Sam looked down. "Oh, this? It's not mine. Believe me, I don't need it, and I'd be disappointing someone very special if I took it for myself." He winked.

Her cheeks pinked. "What's the occasion?"

"Well, your birthday isn't for another few months and the holidays just can't get here fast enough for me. Now? Well, it might just be a special spring holiday on the pagan calendar, noted for gift giving despite being a rather minor holiday."

"Oh, really? I forgot to check the date." Perhaps Sam was just imagining it, but it seemed as though there was genuine curiosity coating her words.

The first few times that Sam had stopped by, conversation had been sparse. They'd talked about the kiss, of course (there wasn't a day that went by that he didn't think of it), but there was only so much that could be said of it. Though a few nurses had recognized him from TV, the two couldn't exactly talk in depth about their work together in public. Most days he'd bring something with him - a newspaper, magazine, or book of crossword puzzles - to help get them talking. If there hadn't been rules against bringing non-disability service animals to the hospital, then Red Wing might have even flied by for a visit.

He shook his head. "No, not really, or at least not that I know of. But hey, I'm Captain America - I don't need an excuse."

"Oh, you superheroes," she said, shaking her head, "always doing whatever you please, the consequences and poor, innocent civilians be damned."

"Now you sound like J. Jonah Jameson," Sam replied. "Man, as if I didn't have enough people grilling me already."

What was the chance she'd seen the Twitter hashtag? Oh, who was he kidding? Everyone and their grandma had seen that.

He placed the box in her lap. "Like I said, I don't need a reason, and I'm not even going to try and justify it."

He was becoming achingly familiar with her hospital room. The sterile white sheets had been replaced with decorated quilts and and colorful fleece throws. Flowers, cards, and teddy bears filled the room.

This, he hoped, was different, not just something that could be grabbed last-minute in a hospital gift shop.

"I don't have anything to give you in return." Jane's hands hung shaking above the box.

"I'd say your company is more than enough." That and he did owe her for saving him from being crushed by a freaking T-Rex. Reaching out, he grabbed one of her hands and squeezed it. "Hey, don't you want to see what it is?"

She nodded. She looked down to her lap, but in that split second Sam noticed her eyes were Misty. "I'm just a bit surprised."

"That's life - you do this kind of unexpected stuff because you know that you don't have forever." He looked up to the clock on the furthest wall, right by a window that showed the tips of skyscrapers in the New York skyline. "Visiting hours end in forty-five minutes, after all."

Jane pulled her hand away from his and grabbed the large crimson ribbon. "If you won't let me refuse it..."

Scraps of wrapping paper and bits of ribbon fell on her lap and to the floor.

Jane's blue eyes bulged. "Sam, why did you... Why did you get this?" There was a heavy force in her voice, an edge to her words that cut against his skin.

"Do you not like it?"

Silky hair slipped beneath her fingers.

"Sam... You didn't have to do this." Her next words came out in a jumble. "I know you're having money problems due to your problems with Steve and S.H.I.E.L.D. The fact that you used what little you have on me... Did Tony help? I know he isn't doing much better, at least for a Stark. Does he know?"

The questions hit so fast that he wasn't sure which to answer first.

"Why did I do it? Well, I was hoping that you'd like it and wear it." He scratched his goosebumps covered arm. "And no, Tony didn't have anything to do with this. Believe me, he gives me enough unwanted advice about women already."

Looking back, it wasn't that original of a gift considering her condition.

Did she like it? Sam bit his lip. Even as a child, he had known that someone's words and feelings didn't always align.

"Want to try it on?"

Jane held it up. "Would you?"

He pulled her purple handkerchief from her head, trying to look away from the bare, pale flesh beneath. Carefully, he helped her put the wig on.

"It's rather long," she commented. Thick, golden strands of hair tickled her shoulders. The wig really helped to make her heavy cheekbones and sunken eyes less noticeable. Reaching forward, he pushed her bangs out of her line of sight.

"This is..." She gave a small laugh. "Oh, it's beautiful Sam - it even feels like real hair. Still, I must look ridiculous."

"Stop putting yourself down."

"Well, I may not have a mirror but I know I do. There's no point in denying it."

Sam smirked. "Believe me, I've seen more than my fair share of clowns, it comes with the job, and I know you look nothing like them."

"Fine, I look more like a washed out pop star."

Sam rolled his eyes. "Now you're just trying to get me to compliment you more." He looked down to his hands. "I guess that I just thought that would help you with your treatments."

"I can't say it'll cure anything," Jane said, spinning a loose lock around her finger like thread, "but I do like it."

"Me? I love it." He leaned forward, and Jane returned the gesture. Her human lips were thinner, her hand held against his back less firm.

When they pulled back, she was grinning. "You still taste like Captain America."

He leaned forward until his lips just barely touched the edge of her ears. "I never did quite understand what you see in me. Don't you have a whole pack of ripped vikings all fighting to win your heart?"

She chuckled. "Don't let them know, but I much prefer all-American men."

This time, she was the one to kiss him. Her touch made the surrounding noise and sights melt away. Perhaps they were in the hospital, maybe in Asgard, or even someplace in between or far away. It was as if all the weight he'd been carrying had been removed from his shoulders. Sam held Jane closer, clutching her firmly against him; it was as if they were the only two left on earth and he dared not lose her.

**Author's Note:**

> I know Jane is a medical doctor in the comics, but I had her read a physics book anyway.


End file.
